The house next door

It is time to head back home. I hope you have found this little walk along Langosta beach of interest. Today's photo shows the house next door to our condo.

I took this photo from the beach, looking up at the house. This house has a commanding view of the beach and the ocean. The lot between this house and our condo is the last beachfront lot on Langosta Beach that does not have a house already built on it. I wonder when the woman who owns it will decide to build a house.

A comment about September 11: Today is the 10th anniversary of the horror of the 9/11 attack. Costa Rica has a 9/11 Memorial Park with a 9/11 monument on the outskirts of San Jose, where there will be a ceremony today. There were two Costa Ricans who worked in the World Trade Center on 9/11/2001. One was on the way to work when the tragedy struck. The second was on the 11th floor, and she managed to escape before the buildings collapsed.

Costa Rica has many ties to the USA, of course. The reduction in travel in the aftermath of 9/11 hurt Costa Rica. In the last 15 years tourism in Costa Rica has increased every year except two, a very small drop off in 2006 and a reduction four times larger in 2002, right after 9/11. We still grieve for the losses suffered on 9/11 and lament the upheaval in the world in the decade that has followed. We should all hope, pray and actively work for peace throughout the world in whatever ways we can.

Costa Rica tries to do its part for peace by having abolished its military more than 60 years ago despite the fact that it is located in a troubled area of the world in which its neighbors have had major problems with violence, etc.

This week we are showing photos of the Atacama Desert on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site, including the highest altitude geyser field on earth, high in the Andes Mountains in Northern Chile.